With all that’s going on — and there’s a lot going on — we’re pleased and heartened by the strong showing of Juneteenth events this year. It looks like more celebrations are taking place not just on the official day but also in the days leading up to and following it. Juneteenth has come a long way from a somewhat obscure day of remembrance to the national holiday it is today.

It’s a day for everyone to celebrate. Maybe that’s why it’s easier for those in power to accept — unlike other Black history events held in February or on Dr. King’s birthday, which often involve honest, sometimes uncomfortable conversations about racism and justice. Yes, Juneteenth is a party, but it’s a party with a purpose.

Let’s take a moment to reflect on how this holiday began. When U.S. troops arrived in Galveston in June 1865, they didn’t bring freedom—they enforced it, arriving two and a half years late and far from the halls where it was first promised. The newly freed Black people of Texas transformed that announcement into a lasting tradition of joy and remembrance.

Juneteenth asks us to celebrate freedom — but we should also read the fine print: America never truly abolished slavery. The 13th Amendment, ratified just months after Juneteenth’s first celebration, outlawed slavery except as punishment for a crime.

One word — “except” — left a back door wide open.

That loophole fueled a prison system that still runs on cheap and often forced labor.

Even today, too many men and women behind bars work for pennies an hour — making license plates, fighting wildfires and harvesting crops.

Ava DuVernay’s powerful documentary “13th,” available on Netflix, dives deep into this legacy, exposing how the prison-industrial complex grew out of this constitutional loophole. It reminds us to confront and dismantle the systems that continue to deny liberty to many.

Lawmakers in some states have begun to remove that loophole from state constitutions. In 2022, voters in Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont approved amendments to their constitutions to this exception.

There are efforts underway in Virginia as well. Groups such as Abolish Slavery VA, the Virginia Justice Alliance and the Abolish Slavery National Network are urging state lawmakers to close the loophole in the 13th Amendment’s exception clause.

A push is underway to do the same at the federal level. But it won’t happen on its own — especially in these times. This Juneteenth, let’s honor our ancestors by refusing to accept half-freedom. Let’s make clear that in America, no one — not even the convicted — should ever be enslaved.

Celebration is good. So is the truth.

Freedom means having both.